Reggaeton Banned in Cuba as Castro Cracks Down on Music

Reggaeton Banned in Cuba as Castro Cracks Down on Music
By Randall Woods - Dec 4, 2012 1:37 PM GMT+0100

Cuba's government is banning reggaeton music from radio and T.V. as Raul
Castro's administration cracks down on "vulgar" songs in the island
nation, government newspaper Granma reported on its website,

The Cultural Ministry's music institute will levy severe sanctions or
ban musicians including reggaeton artists whose lyrics are deemed
sexually explicit or demeaning to women, Granma said, citing the
institute's president, Orlando Vistel Columbie.

"Neither vulgarity nor mediocrity will be able to tarnish the richness
of Cuban music," Vistel said in an interview posted online today by the
Communist Party paper. "Obviously, people can listen to what they want
privately. But, that freedom doesn't include the right to reproduce and
disseminate that music."

A blend of styles including Jamaican dance-hall, hip hop and electronic
music, reggaeton has been mainstream for almost a decade and is popular
in dance clubs from Chile to New York. Cuban authorities last year
denounced as obscene the reggaeton song El Chupi Chupi by local artist
Osmani Garcia.

To contact the reporter on this story: Randall Woods in Santiago at
rwoods13@bloomberg.net.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-12-04/reggaeton-banned-in-cuba-as-castro-cracks-down-on-music.html